BUFFALO — First Niagara Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: FNFG) announced it has appointed Austin A. Adams to its board of directors and the board of its main banking unit, First Niagara Bank, N.A.
A 35-year veteran of the banking industry, Adams led technology and operations for three of the nation’s largest banks: JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank One Corp., and First Union Corp, according to a First Niagara news release. Since retiring from JPMorgan Chase in 2006, Adams has continued to advise financial-services companies on information-technology platforms, while serving as an independent director on a number of corporate boards.
“Austin’s distinguished record as an independent director and bank technology leader makes him an exceptional addition to our board,” First Niagara Chairman Nathaniel D. Woodson said in the release.
With Adams’ addition, First Niagara’s board has 10 independent directors.
“Austin was one of the first bankers to see that infrastructure, technology and data can be leveraged to improve the customer experience and differentiate a financial institution from its competition,” Gary M. Crosby, First Niagara’s president and CEO, said in the news release,
Adams began his financial-services career in 1973 at Northwestern Financial Corp. In 1985, he moved to First Union, where he earned a national reputation as one of the industry’s top chief information officers. In 2001, he joined Bank One as executive vice president and chief information officer, reporting directly to its chairman and CEO. Adams became corporate chief information officer and executive vice president at JP Morgan Chase upon completion of its acquisition of Bank One in 2004, reporting to Jamie Dimon, Chairman, president, and CEO.
Since his retirement from JPMorgan Chase in 2006, Adams has served as an independent director for Spectra Energy Corp., Dun & Bradstreet Corp., CommunityOne Bancorp, and Commscope, Inc.
Adams earned his M.B.A. and B.A. from Appalachian State University.
First Niagara, through its First Niagara Bank unit, is a multi-state community-oriented bank with about 410 branches, $38 billion in assets, $28 billion in deposits, and approximately 5,800 employees serving New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.
In the Syracuse metro area, First Niagara ranks third in deposit market share.
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